Stanisław Wojeński's Way to the Episcopal Mitre. The
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CEEOL copyright 2020 THE JAGIELLONIAN LIBRARY BULLETIN SPECIAL ISSUE 2020 KRZYSZTOF R. PROKOP DOI: 10.26106/VTJ4-WT66 STANISŁAW WOJEŃSKI’S WAY TO THE EPISCOPAL MITRE. THE ADVENTUROUS CHURCH CAREER OF THE SON OF THE RECTOR OF THE CRACOW ACADEMY The manuscript collection of the Jagiellonian Library holds to this day “an ex- cellently illuminated manuscript presenting the Wojeński family along with their ge- nealogical tree” (Z. Pietrzyk)1 under the title Flamma rediviva e bustis et cineribus atavorum erumpens, olim factis, nunc exemplis Woienskiorum a Brzezie domum col- lustrans, ex veterum historiis, antiquis documentis, imperatorum, regum, principum privilegiis excitata anno salutis 1651 (Jagiellonian Library, MS 1890).2 Its descrip- tion reads: “A paper codex from 1651, in royal quatro, 3 unnumbered pages, 66 and 27 empty at the end. On the second unnumbered page: ‘Stanislaus, archidiaconus Pilecensis, Sacrae Regiae Maiestatis secretarius, Vladislao, decano Klecensi, Alex- andro, Joanni et Ludovico a Brzezie Woienskiis, fratribus, salutem;’ on page 4: ‘Fa- miliae origo;’ page 5 ‘Familiae in Regnum Poloniae adventus.’ A bust of Zadora, an ancestor of Wojeńskis on page 4v, Wojeńskis’ coat of arms on page 11r and a genea- logical table on page 66r, ornately gilded and hand-painted; moreover, each page gilt- edged, each initial and chapter title gilded.”3 For anyone familiar with the realities of Old Polish society, this kind of relic is not surprising, as it was then common to boast one’s ancestors, to present magnificence of one’s own family and to preserve the details about them for posteriority. In this particular case, we have a somewhat 1 Z. Pietrzyk, Poczet rektorów Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego 1400–2000, Kraków 2000, p. 174. 2 W. Wisłocki, Katalog rękopisów Biblioteki Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, vol. 1: Wstęp • Rę- kopisy 1–1875, Kraków 1877–1881, p. 451, no. 1890. 3 Ibidem (1890. FF V 6), where also the note: “On the frame with another hand «Joannis Zaiączkowic, m.p.».” See also reproduction in: Z. P i e t r z y k, Poczet rektorów Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego…, p. 174, and below note 13. CEEOL copyright 2020 2020_BJ_110.indd 175 2020-08-27 09:52:36 CEEOL copyright 2020 176 different situation, since the aforementioned manuscript was made not with an inten- tion of preserving someone’s imposing line of descent for posteriority, but to attest a fictitious genealogy of the man (and his kinship) who initiated its creation. As a matter of fact, his intention brought about more than this document. Ten years later, in 1661, there was prepared another manuscript, very closely related to the pre- vious one, titled Genealogia familiae Woiensciorum, which was described as “a man- uscript in folio [with] 17 parchment charters, 14 paper ones, containing documents on Wojeński’s family. In the first part, on the parchment charters, [there is] the original document [sic] of the King Sigismund III, in which there are incorporated as tran- sumpts documents concerning Wojeński’s family issued by the King Stephen Báthory, the Emperor Ferdinand, Wenceslaus, Duke of Cieszyn, Władysław Jagiełło, and a doc- ument in Czech by Casimir Jagiellon. On one inside charter, there is the quartered shield of Wojeński’s coat of arms and, on the reverse, tournament contests between two knights – both pictures painted in colour. Next, a long document transcripted from the Royal Register of the king John Casimir under the title: ‘Genealogia avitae nobil- itatis familiae generosorum Woienskiorum a Brzezie de armis Płomień seu Zadora, iuxta deductionem in comitiis generalibus Regni Varsaviensibus Sabbatho ante Domini- cam Rogationum proxima anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo sexagesimo primo, coram Sacra Regia Maiestate et omnibus Regni ordinibus factam per reverendum Sta- nislaum Woienski, archidiaconum Pilecensem, Sacrae Regiae Maiestatis secretarium, ex remissione venerabilis capituli ecclesiae cathedralis Cracoviensis.’4 Talking about this historical document in the past tense is due to the fact that – according to the in- formation obtained by the author from the Cracow Cathedral Chapter Archives at Wawel, where that manuscript used to be preserved – it is now regarded as perma- nently lost, since it has not been found in the place in which it was supposed to be. Apart from the above, which is otherwise troublesome for a researcher doing a query, the fact of the existence of two (or actually at least three, as we will find lat- er) such closely related documents may raise a legitimate question of the context of their execution, which is in part indicated by the descriptions cited above. The re- searcher is even more intrigued if one considers that the result of actions taken by the clergyman mentioned here, aiming at proving a noble origin of his ancestors, were not confined to the mentioned manuscripts, but included also a number of falsified documents (forgeries), which were prepared and planted into the Crown Archive just 4 I. Polkowski, Katalog rękopisów kapitulnych katedry krakowskiej, vol. 1: Kodexa rękopiśmi- enne 1–228, Kraków 1884, p. 152 no. 211 (note at the end there: “Numer porządkowy 73”). With the mention in the quoted above title on the origin of the nobility completed during the Diet of 1661 (“de- ductio [nobilitatis] in comitiis generalibus Regni Varsaviensibus […] anno anno Domini millesimo sex- centesimo sexagesimo primo, coram Sacra Regia Maiestate et omnibus Regni ordinibus […] ex remis- sione venerabilis capituli ecclesiae cathedralis Cracoviensis”) corresponds the presented further testi- monium by Bishop Stanisław Kazimierz Dąmbski (as an eyewitness) in Wojeński’s information process. CEEOL copyright 2020 2020_BJ_110.indd 176 2020-08-27 09:52:36 CEEOL copyright 2020 177 at the time of inspection of this important public collection comissioned to him by the order of the Diet. Morever, while engaging in this disgraceful activity, he was already an episcopal nominee, designated to oversee one of the dioceses in the Polish-Lithu- anian-Russian lands, and thus a senator in spe of the Commonwealth of the Both Na- tions.5 All these facts taken together do incline us to look closer at the vicissitudes of life and particularly the ecclesiastical career of so controversial a figure, considered one of the close associates of King John III Sobieski in the first half of his reign. He is therefore a clergyman undoubtedly worth of a critical biography – which would be all the more interesting, since also the father of Stanislaw Wojeński (which is our ob- ject of interest here) was truly a prominent person as one of the rectors of the Cracow Academy. Actually some facts from the curricula vitae of both the father or and the son used to be mixed up in literature.6 For obvious reasons, the present text does not aspire to fill up this gap in histo- riography and the intention of the author is merely to introduce into scholarly circu- lation a major collection of sources particularly related to the crucial moment in Wo- jeński’s ecclesiastical career,7 which was his promotion to the bishopric of Kamieniec Podolski and a three-year long time lapse that passed between submitting a relevant supplication by the King (14th February 1677) and the moment when the Pope issued the appropriate nomination (19th February 1680), the reasons for which have not been properly accounted for in literature to date. Moreover, the author of the present study 5 Zygmunt Lasocki, whose study on falsifications in the Crown Archives will be referred to here more than once, wrote in the conclusion of his reflections: “It was common in the times of the pane- gyrists – and even more recent ones – to beautify the history of families and the family tree. Falsifica- tion of documents in order to satisfy the vanity of the nobility often happened. There have also been cases of false oaths and professional witnesses in proving noble genealogy […], but for a clerical dig- nitary to be an almost professional forger of documents and perjurer it is probably only one infamous exception.” (Z. L a s o c k i, O falsyfikatach w Archiwum Skarbca Koronnego, “Miesięcznik Heral- dyczny” 9, 1930, p. 192). 6 See below footnote 19. 7 Generally on his biography, see L. Łętowski, Katalog biskupów, prałatów i kanoników kra- kowskich, vol. 4, Kraków 1853, pp. 235–236; K. R. P r o k o p, Biskupi kamienieccy od średniowie- cza do współczesności. Szkice biograficzne, Biały Dunajec–Ostróg 2007, pp. 224–237; i d e m, Staro- polskie sylwetki pilickie (XIV–XIX w.). Wybitne postaci wpisane w dzieje dawnej Pilicy, Pilica 2013, pp. 169–178; W. R o s o w s k i, Wojeński Stanisław biskup, ur. ok. 1613 w Krakowie, zm. 1685 w War- szawie, [in:] Encyklopedia katolicka, vol. 20, Lublin 2014, col. 847–848; K. R. P r o k o p, Rzymskoka- toliccy biskupi ordynariusze diecezji na ziemiach ruskich dawnej Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów (do czasów I wojny światowej): Baków • Chełm (Krasnystaw) • Halicz • Kamieniec Podolski • Kijów • Lwów • Łuck • Przemyśl • Żytomierz, Warszawa–Drohiczyn 2014, pp. 428–430; i d e m, Vademecum chronologicznobibliograficzne do badań nad hierarchią kościoła w Polsce i na ziemiach dawnej Rzeczypospolitej, Kraków 2018, pp. 64 no. 498, 262 no. 35, 347, 487, 507, 614. Also: Z. L a s o c k i, O falsyfikatach w Archiwum Skarbca Koronnego, pp. 179–180, 187nn. CEEOL copyright 2020 2020_BJ_110.indd 177 2020-08-27 09:52:37 CEEOL copyright 2020 178 was also inclined to believe that the main reason for the aforementioned delay in the positive consideration of the case in the Eternal City was the fact